True Strength, The Strength Of Will Over Others
by wikelia
Summary: HTTYD 3 Spoilers. The riders weren't ready. They weren't ready…
1. Chapter 1

**This is inspired by a drawing that lunarcrown did on Tumblr. Check it out, it's amazing!**

Hiccup let the small sounds Toothless was making in his sleep soothe him as he looked through his father's notes.

A cold draught passed through the house. He shivered, wishing that Toothless was awake or that Astrid was there, with her warm (most of the time) hands, telling him to go to sleep.

His inner Astrid was telling him to rest, to close his eyes just for a few minutes, but his inner...well, Hiccup, was saying that if he didn't push himself to his limits right now, he would fail.

There had to be something. Anything that could give them a set direction to fly in. But all there was was bits and pieces. A puzzle he had to put together.

He yawned, rubbing his eyes. The words were getting a little blurry.

He looked at Toothless, covered by a cloth he had draped over him and breathed softly with a smile. If all this would pay off and make Toothless safe, then it was so, so worth it.

Everything was worth it, if it was for Toothless.

He was just about to rub his eyes and go back to reading when he heard a footstep that was much louder - closer - than it should have been.

He turned his head with a gasp to see a blond man helping himself to a cup of water.

A sharp bout of fear shot up Hiccup's spine. He hadn't even heard the man come in.

Without warning, the man took out a crossbow and shot Toothless. Hiccup yelped out loud. "Toothless! What did you do to him?" He took out Inferno faster than he had in his life and held it up frantically.

"Nothing he won't sleep off." The man waved a hand as he walked towards him. The tankard of water was still in his hand. There was a wide smirk on his face as he sat down in the chief's chair.

Hiccup's blood boiled. His heart started pounding as he took a step forward. More than ever he wished Astrid was here, with her attitude of lopping heads off first and asking questions later.

"So, Chief Hiccup. I'm sorry, is it Hiccup or -" The man let out a hiccup and Hiccup gripped Inferno tightly, his hand shaking.

Then it hit him who he was looking at. Eret's words rang in his ear. Grimmel the Grisly. The one who lived for the hunt, the one who had tried to trap Toothless on his own island.

That man was in his house, sitting in his father's chair.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

Grimmel chuckled, keeping his crossbow trained on him. "I'd lower the flashy sword, Chief. This can be a very smooth transaction for both of us, or it can be incredibly painful for you and troublesome for me."

"Get out of my house," Hiccup said, with gritted teeth.

Something was screaming at him that this man was dangerous, and that he would do well to stay away from him. Something set the man apart from anyone they had faced before. No one had been as nonchalant as the man sitting before him.

"Certainly. As soon as you give me your Night Fury."

Hiccup scoffed a little hysterically. "Not a chance in Hel."

"I think you've misunderstood." Grimmel stood up, walking towards him. Hiccup held Inferno even tighter as he took a step back, eyes trained on the approaching figure. "I am Grimmel the Grisly. I've hunted every Night Fury. And to have left even one alive is a disgrace. You understand, of course. I need that dragon."

"I don't think you heard me," Hiccup said, his eyes flashing, "I said, not. A chance. In Hel."

Grimmel moved so quickly that Hiccup didn't have time to react.

Knocking him to the floor with his shoulder, he ran towards Toothless. Hiccup shouted - hoping Toothless would wake up, or that someone would hear him - and threw Inferno in a well-aimed shot that landed in Grimmel's path. He scrambled up, shoving him down.

"Bud! Toothless, get out of here!"

Grimmel shouted, elbowing him in the side and slamming him against the wall. Hiccup tried to move before the man started to choke him.

"I said we could have done this easily, Chief." As he held him with one hand, he rummaged through his pockets with the other before taking out a collar. Hiccup writhed and struggled against his hand, eyes wide in terror. "I've only ever done this on dragons, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to experiment."

Grimmel yanked his hair and snapped the collar on him. It wasn't as tight as the man's hand, but it pinched, and in his haste to get it off, he fell back.

"Get away from me!"

"You brought this on yourself." Grimmel's eyes narrowed as he took out a syringe and took off the cap.

Hiccup's heart pounded. Anytime now, Astrid had to burst in through the door. Or his mom would enter, with her staff at the ready. Or Toothless would wake up and save him.

"You've never seen anything like me," Grimmel hissed."I will destroy everything you love."

He stabbed the syringe into his neck and Hiccup gasped in pain, his eyes nearly bulging out as the world went fuzzy.

The room started to spin. He was suddenly ten times more drowsy than he'd been before, and he fell to his knees, throwing up a little on the floor.

The last thing he saw was his roof bursting into flames.

The last thing he heard was Astrid's scream.

And the last thing he felt before he lost consciousness, was Toothless's scales, as he fell backwards onto them and prayed that Grimmel wouldn't be able to get him.

**Hope you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ruffnut had been on her fifth...no, sixth tankard of mead when she heard Astrid scream.

Those screams were followed by several others, a mix of yelps and cries of horror. She half ran, half stumbled out of her house, and thank Odin she left when she did, because her hut was on fire.

Her hut. Was on fire.

As were several others, she noticed in her dazed state. A quick second of panic came and passed by when she thought of Tuffnut, but he hadn't been in their hut, he'd been in the Great Hall. She'd been in their house alone.

So Ruffnut started running, not towards the Great Hall like some people were, but towards where it had seemed Astrid's scream had come from. Tuffnut wasn't in trouble, but Astrid could be.

She nearly fell a few times. People kept knocking into her and each other. But Ruff didn't stop, except to help pick up a little boy. She didn't stick around to hear his father's thanks.

Then she spotted a flash of blond hair making its way towards Hiccup's hut.

Astrid was yelling, or roaring as she ran into his home, and Ruff panted as she followed in. Even from where she was, she heard Astrid's anguished cry of "Hiccup!" and her dull so-far mind seemed to speed up with her legs.

When she ran in, Astrid was fighting a tall man who was holding Hiccup's sword. Their chief was unconcious on the ground, with some...some liquid in his neck. Literally _in _his neck. The roof was gone. Burned down.

Burn-ing was more accurate, she thought, as she dodged a flaming piece of wood.

Picking up Stoick's axe from the side, she ran into the fray. After years of fighting together, Astrid didn't seem to even flinch at her arrival, only stepping to the side as the axe met Inferno.

"What did you do to him?" Astrid roared.

The man scowled, nearly knocking Ruff off her feet. He moved quickly for someone who looked so old. She gasped when her face nearly caught on fire.

"Your chief is not yours anymore." With his elbow, he knocked Astrid in the face. She grunted, but swung her axe back around the other way. The man blocked it in the knick of time.

Ruff was about to deliver a blowing shot right as a dragon - one with the same liquid in its neck as Hiccup - swooped down and grabbed Grimmel out of thin air. Next to them, another one grabbed Hiccup.

"No!" Astrid shrieked, running towards him.

Their fingers brushed against each other before Hiccup was taken high, high into the sky. The two girls stood watching and gaping.

The alcohol was catching up to her. She was going to throw up soon.

"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled, running out of the house. Ruff ran after, grabbing her arm.

"Who was that guy?"

"I don't know! Stormfly!"

Speaking of Stormfly -

Ruff turned around and ran back in to the damaged hut, taking the blanket off of Toothless. There was an arrow in his leg that she yanked out quickly, but the dragon stayed asleep. She clicked her tongue urgently as Fishlegs burst in.

"Ruffnut! Get out of here!"

"But Toothless!"

He ran over to her and they tried to pull the Night Fury out on their own. Soon enough, Snotlout flew over with Hookfang and pulled him out from above.

As Ruff ran back out, she saw Astrid standing next to Stormfly, with her and Tuffnut in a shouting match with Spitelout and Sven. Valka stood there as well, a silent fury in her eyes.

"- was going to take Toothless!" Astrid was shouting as Ruff got close. "I got there in time but he still - he managed to - he got Hiccup!" she cried out desperately. One of her hands was on her saddle.

"You cannot leave!" Sven yelled in that shrill voice of his. "You're acting chief if Hiccup is gone!"

"We're not married, it should be Gobber -"

"You're the general, Astrid!"

"She has to go after Hiccup!" Tuff butt in, glaring at Sven. "We both do! We need to get a search party -"

"Hiccup has gotten himself out of worse -"

"Enough!" Valka said loudly, making Ruff jump. She looked at Astrid and nodded slightly. "Astrid, they're right, as much I -" She threw a dirty glare at Spitelout. " - hate to say it. You are the general, and you need to stay here in case of another attack. But there will be a search party," she said quickly, when Astrid opened her mouth to protest, "I will go with the riders to find him."

Astrid clenched her fists and her eyes met Ruffnut's, who nodded at her slightly.

"Fine," she let out with gritted teeth. "Go."

Valka turned to Ruff, furrowing her brows. "The others -"

"They were putting Toothless in the Great Hall. He's knocked out completely. When do we leave?" Ruff was desperately pinching herself as she slid in and out of a panicked state. Gods, she shouldn't have opened that barrel of mead tonight.

"Right. Cloudjumper!" Valka ran and used her staff to basically glide on the back of her dragon. Tuff nodded at his sister before going to get Barf and Belch.

"Ruffnut." Astrid grabbed her arm before she could go with him. "Please -"

"We're gonna find him, Ast." She squeezed her friend's hand and willed her mind to clear. "Keep things calm here. We'll be back soon."

Astrid swallowed, but nodded. She turned and ran towards the burning huts to help the fire brigade that they hadn't needed in years.

As she got on her dragon, Ruff felt her brain finally settling down and her vision clearing up.

But behind her, her home was burning, and the gravity of it got her to fly Barf and Belch a little faster.

**Things are really _heating_ up now, eh?**


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup's head hurt.

His arms hurt too. Actually, everything hurt. He was against a painfully hard surface, and his hands were tied behind him.

He tried to think. Where was he? What had he been doing?

Why did thinking hurt?

He leaned over, closing his eyes as he threw up on the floor. His neck was throbbing and in his dazed state he noticed a purple syringe stuck in it firmly. The sight only served to make him more nauseous.

"Well, now you've gotten my ship dirty."

He looked up as a man, whose name was on the tip of his tongue, walked in, looking at disdain on the floor where he had puked. "I have half a mind to make you clean it up, but there are more important matters to discuss."

He leaned down in front of him and reached out. Hiccup pulled away with a fearful look until the man grabbed him from the back of his head and forced him to sit in a bowing position. Hiccup grunted, but he couldn't fight back.

"Well, you're clearly a lot dumber. But then, that's not really saying much."

The man grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. "They call you the Dragon Master, you know. If only the world could see you now."

The Dragon Master.

Dragons…

Toothless!

"Toothless!" he cried out, struggling for the first time against his bonds. "Where's Toothless, what have you done with him?"

Nothing else made sense - he still couldn't even remember the man's name, but he knew Toothless was somewhere in trouble and he had to save him.

"Let me go! Let me _go! Toothless!_"

The man smacked him hard across the cheek and Hiccup's head hit the wall will a dull thud. He might have started bleeding, but he couldn't tell with the throbbing pain.

"You care so much about the dragons. You even dress like one from what I've heard." He cupped his cheeks with one hand as Hiccup tried to pull away from him. "If you want to be with the dragons, then I won't stop you. I'm helping you here, Hiccup."

He whimpered as the man took out another syringe. "It seems that the venom has the same effect on you as it does on my Deathgrippers. Which means, you'll be under my control after this."

"Leave Toothless alone," Hiccup whispered harshly, "I don't...don't care what you do to me, just leave him alone, don't do anything to him!"

The man smirked. "Alright, but I'm warning you, if I don't...you will."

"What do you -"

The man stabbed the second syringe into his neck. Hiccup cried out, throwing his head back in pain and writhing on the floor.

"Sleep well, my new pet. You'll be mine when you wake up."

* * *

Valka knew that after twenty years, she wasn't to consider herself a mother. That wasn't anyone else's rule imposed on her - that was her own policy, because people who were mothers didn't leave their children for twenty years.

That being said, her motherly instinct wasn't entirely shot.

Maybe it was just the general panic, maybe it was what Eret had told them about Grimmel, or maybe something else entirely, but her gut told her that rescuing Hiccup wasn't going to be something they would do soon, or easily.

She wanted to shout in frustration. Her poor boy didn't deserve this.

She looked around at the other riders. For once, the twins weren't cracking jokes, Fishlegs wasn't cooing over Fishmeat, and Snotlout wasn't being...well, Snotlout.

They cared about her son as much as she did, if not more.

Eret flew next to her. They had been flying for about two hours.

"Are you sure Grimmel would be heading east, Eret?"

"Aye. That is where he comes from, so I'd imagine he has a base somewhere close to us."

Valka nodded slightly, her gaze falling down to Skullcrusher. Immediately, her thoughts flew to Stoick, and how he'd react if he knew she let their son get captured by some maniac. He would never have let something like this happen. He would have protected Hiccup - he _had_ protected Hiccup. He had a greater capacity for love than she would ever know.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She had no right to feel guilty.

"Look!" Tuff yelled, pointing. "See that?"

Valka squinted, and then she saw it. They were approaching an island that had tens, if not dozens, of ships surrounding its docks. She gasped, seeing hunters load cages onto ships.

She didn't think it was possible, but there was someone with enough cages for all their dragons, and that only made her dread what was happening to Hiccup even more.

"D'you think he's down there?" Snotlout glared at the island like he wanted to burn it. "Or on one of those ships?"

"I'd say there's a high chance." Fishlegs frowned as he hovered a little closer. "With the time spent, it's plausible he's made it this far, these guys are clearly hunters, and we know they must have come from this direction."

"Then let's get down there and attack!" Ruff tightened her grip on her saddle, but Valka held up a hand.

"Wait. There are a lot of weapons down there, and it wouldn't do to chance all of us getting captured. I'll go." She looked at Fishlegs. "But I'll need a smaller dragon to drop me off."

She expected him to whimper. While there was nothing wrong with being afraid in certain situations, including this one, she thought she'd have to convince him.

Instead, Fishlegs' eyes were set and he nodded, flying close to her and letting her get on behind him.

"If you don't come back within -" Eret began.

"An hour. That's all I should need.." She nodded shortly at him and Fishlegs flew her down.

As they got close to the base, her eyes narrowed. Dangerous or not, someone had taken her son and they were going to pay the price.

She just hoped she'd make it in time.


	4. Chapter 4

Valka's breath hitched as she got closer to what she assumed were the dungeons. The cages looked like they were made for dragons only, but it didn't hurt to check. After all, her son was a prisoner. They would keep him in a cage.

She hated that she knew the mind of the enemy so well.

As she went from cage to cage slowly, and quietly, she found herself cringing and wincing at the bones, and the poor animals still trapped. She wanted so badly to free them, and yet, she couldn't. It would cause a chaos, and her mission was to get Hiccup.

Afterwards, though? She'd come back for all of them. She knew she would.

There was no sign of Hiccup in any of the cages.

Well, then, maybe he was in Grimmel's quarters. That thought made her especially queasy. What things did the man have planned for her son?

Before she could answer the question, she had to find them first.

Maybe he was still on the ships.

Valka clicked her tongue. There really wasn't time to check each and every one of the ships if she didn't want the other riders to barge in and rescue her. Maybe she should head back…

No. _No._ She had to keep searching.

She snuck out, near the arena. She could hear loud, animated yelling. Someone there was in huge trouble. She got closer, until she saw hooded men and women.

" - were supposed to capture the Night Fury!"

"We hired you for that one purpose!"

These were warlords, she realized with a start. But they weren't the masterminds behind the attack...

And then she saw Grimmel.

It was exactly how Ruffnut had described. A tall man with white hair and strange robes and a smug, nonchalant expression. She hated him instantly.

"I may not have gotten you the Night Fury, but I did get you something of equal value."

"And what is that?" one of them asked.

Valka scowled, getting her staff at the ready. Hiccup was somewhere close, he had to be.

Grimmel smirked. "Come on out, my little pet! No need to be shy!"

She frowned, squinting to see under the chains covering the ring. He couldn't be referring to Hiccup. He couldn't be calling him a pet. Her son was no one's pet.

But it was her son who stepped out from inside. She could tell by the hair, as well as the outcry that followed.

"The chief of Berk!"

"Why didn't you cuff him, you fool?""

"Don't come any closer, demon!"

The three of them had all taken their weapons out, and with a start, Valka jumped into the arena. using her staff to swing her down the chains.

"Hiccup! Run!"

"Don't move a muscle, pet."

"Who are you?" the woman demanded. "How did you get here?"

Valka didn't bother responding. Why wasn't Hiccup -

She finally got a close look at him. His eyes, specifically.

They weren't green. Weren't emerald, like Stoick's and her own. They were a _violent_ shade of violet. Her eyes finally fell down to the collar on his neck and the purple venom that was embedded in him.

When she looked back at his eyes, she realized they looked dead.

"What did you do to him?" she cried out, raising her staff facing Grimmel, who merely chuckled.

"Do you think you can take on me, and these good vikings here with me?"

Valka snarled. "Oh, trust me, I can do more than take you on. You'll be screaming for mercy once I'm done with you."

She stood in a crouched position. Hiccup made no sign that he heard her, or even recognized her.

"Truly _formidable_." The man's voice dripped with sarcasm. "But given that, I think it's only suitable if we make it a fair fight."

What?

He looked at Hiccup, pointed at her, and said, "Kill."

The growl that Hiccup emitted, then, she didn't know he was capable of. Barely a second had passed after Grimmel's words when her son had lit up his fire sword in his hand and ran towards her, fully looking like he was going to burn her alive if she gave him the chance.

She didn't give him that chance.

Valka jumped just in the nick of time, gasping. "Hiccup!"

He made no response. There was a crazed look in his eyes. He swung his sword again, forcing her to take even more steps back.

"Listen to me!"

"He'll never listen to you again!" Grimmel said gleefully.

"Hiccup, please!"

She could strike him. But she couldn't. She couldn't hurt him.

"Kill her!"

"Listen to me, son! Fight it!"

"Do it now!"

Hiccup kept attacking. Each blow he threw at her she barely dodged. And she had been dodging for half of her life.

She held her hands out. "Hiccup -"

He kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back before raising his sword.

Valka lifted up her staff -

He brought down Inferno -

One of the warlords screamed -

And then Hiccup was knocked aside by a large tail that she knew to be Cloudjumper's.

Her dragon roared furiously, and she knew he was about to fire.

"No! Don't!" She hooked her staff against the end of his wing. "That's Hiccup, don't fire!"

The dragon hesitated, and in that moment, Hiccup threw his sword. It swept past her cheek and hissed as she got burned, clutching it. Cloudjumper roared again, and they were flying up, up, away from Hiccup, who still looked like he wanted to rip her apart.

"Valka!" That was Eret. "I'm sorry, it hasn't been an hour, but Cloudjumper heard you calling out and we couldn't stop him -"

"Retreat!" she yelled, trembling. The wind was beating at her face like it never had before.

They obeyed her instantly. Cloudjumper flew fast, but he could have been slower than a snail at that moment, because with every second, she knew she was leaving Hiccup behind and in every second, she hated herself for it.

* * *

Astrid looked up Mrs. Ack as she teetered on a ladder. The woman hammered at her own hut as she stood down, to make sure she didn't fall.

"Just a bit more! And then you should take a break!"

The woman shot her a grateful look, to which Astrid only nodded slightly at. She looked around - most everyone was doing some form of repairs. Her hands were itching to join in. But she was merely the supervisor, in charge. What a useless role to be in.

She heard someone walk up behind her. "You're doin' a good job."

Astrid looked over her shoulder to see Spitelout, watching approvingly. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Whatever."

"I know you don't want to do this," he said, stepping up to stand next to her, "but you realize this is going to be your role anyway, once you marry the chief?"

She looked at him with a glare. "That isn't going to include worrying about whether he's alive or not. That - that isn't going to be feeling so helpless."

"You're not helpless. Everyone's calmer because of you. They trust you."

"They trust Hiccup too."

"In times of peace, definitely. In times of war, it's nice to have someone who thinks more like the average viking.."

Astrid clenched her fist and started walking the other way. "We're not at war. Not yet."

"Alright, then." He continued to follow her. "Then we're waiting. It's a good skill to have, to be able to wait."

"If you're critiquing me -"

"For Thor's sake, lass, I'm tryin' to praise you. You're doing a good job of waiting and a good job at being chieftess."

"I'm not the -" She clicked her tongue angrily, but then took a deep breath and stopped walking. They were in front of Hiccup's hut. "But thank you, I guess. Do you always use flattery to become second in command?"

"Would you rather I seduce you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, now I know where Snotlout gets it from." At his expectant look. she went on. "No. If I leave, Gobber is to become chief. That's my final say."

Gods, none of this mattered right now. She should be on Stormfly right now, rescuing Hiccup and killing Grimmel.

"May I be your counsel?"

Astrid bit her lip. She really was entirely new to this game of politics.

"I'm not...entirely opposed to the idea."

"Good. You're open-minded."

"Unlike you."

"Lass, I've been through enough to not have the luxury of being open-minded."

Astrid opened her mouth to fire back, to say that _everyone_ had that luxury, no matter what they had been through, but a man ran up to her, out of breath. "Chieftess!"

She bit down, hard, on her tongue, before she could correct him. She didn't know why the title bothered her so. She was acting chief, so she would be treated as such. But the Berkians were getting a little too comfortable with it, too quickly.

"What is it?"

"Two things. One, the Night Fury is awake."

Astrid started - finally, someone who would be as panicked as she was.

"It is not a good idea to look forward to comforting a dragon more than your own people," Spitelout murmured. She threw him a dirty glance - he was right, but he didn't have to say it.

"What else?"

"A Terror mail."

"From Valka?" Her eyes widened.

The man shook his head. Astrid narrowed her eyes.

"Then who?"

"It's the Berserker tribe, Chieftess. They're under attack."


	5. Chapter 5

**Just a note, I'm like kinda disregarding some points of RTTE, so please don't tell me "aCTUALLY -" I know. I know. But I gotta pick and choose a little.**

_Hiccup,_

_I'm trying to write as quickly as I can. We need your help. My scouts have seen about fifty ships coming in our direction, and I am sure they are warlords. I know we can't take them on our own, but with Berk backing us up, we can win._

_Please, I'm begging you, hurry. They'll be upon us by dawn._

_Heather_

The message was short and to the point. And if it had been delivered to the person it was meant for, then all would be well. Hiccup would have assigned her to send out people to help, he may even have gone himself if he thought they needed him.

But Hiccup wasn't receiving it.

Astrid was.

Her eyes searched the sky as she ran towards the Great Hall. The letter was clutched in her hand tightly. They must have found Hiccup by now, they must have...must have been flying back by now…

But how long could she wait? How long could Heather wait? And these warlords, who were they? Why go after Berserk when Berk was a much more open target? Sure, Berserk wasn't as well guarded, but Berserk also didn't have much to protect. Their dragon population was nowhere near the size of Berk's.

She opened the doors to the Great Hall where people were shouting, trying to keep Toothless calm. He looked completely fuddled, moving this way and that and roaring, clearly distressed. She ran past the villagers in front of him, holding out her hands.

"Whoa, whoa!"

One of the children grasped the back of her shirt as they hid behind her. Astrid looked down at bright green, fearful eyes, and tried not to think about how fearful her favorite pair of green eyes would be at the moment. She put a hand under Toothless's chin and scratched him gently.

He calmed down enough to look at her, really look at her, and he let out a pleading roar that she felt drum her heart. Unclasping the child from her clothes, she kneeled down and looked at Toothless.

"The others are looking for him. I'm sorry, but I can't fly you out right now."

Toothless moaned pitifully, nudging into her hand before running out of the Great Hall. She gasped at the sudden movement, but right as she made to follow him, another child grabbed her hand.

"Chieftess, I'm scared."

Astrid bit her lip - she wasn't a speaker, or a motivator. Hiccup did that, she enforced his decisions or argued against them. But to convince people of her own ideas, to put everything she was feeling into words…or to come up with flowery words for comfort?

It had never been her style.

"G-go find your mother or father. I'm sorry. but I'm busy."

With that, she moved away from the child - who she didn't look at, for fear of guilt - and went out of the Great Hall, only to be greeted by Gobber and Spitelout.

"Are you going to go to Berserk?"

"Your place is here!"

"If Heather needs our help -"

"I'm sorry about the Berserkers, but our island comes first!"

"Stop, both of you." She held up a hand, taking a shaky breath. "Gobber, I'm going to put you in charge. I'm going. I have to go, we could just lose an important ally if I don't."

Not to mention the nauseous feeling in her stomach of losing both Hiccup and Heather.

"And I'll be going on Toothless, to double our speed." She started walking before either of the two men could talk, making them follow her. "He might not want to, but I think he'll prefer it to just sitting around doing nothing."

"He'll prefer it, eh?" Spitelout muttered.

Astrid glared at him for a split second before she stopped walking. Toothless was at the docks, crooning sadly at the water. Her fists clenched.

"Fine, I'll take Stormfly. If these hunters want war, then we'll give it to them."

"Astrid," Gobber said quietly. She turned to him, and her eyes finally fell to the cloth in his hands. It was a white cloak - oh gods -

"Ye're goin' to another island, basically declarin' war, and ye're doin' it on behalf of Berk." He gave her the cloak, and she fingered the fur as she opened it, the cloth nearly falling to her feet. "I trust that ye know what ye're doin'."

Astrid met his eyes, and in them she saw as much pain as she knew her own contained, because she had seen them reflected when she looked at Toothless.

Standing up straight, she draped the cloak over her own shoulders and fastened the clip, aware the people were looking. No matter who she was, what her role was to Hiccup, he wasn't here, and right now, she had to make the decisions. For her own people. Maybe she was no leader, but she was their protector.

Which made her leaving all the more worse.

"Gather the A Team." Astrid's Team, Hiccup had dubbed it. "I'm flying out now, and I expect you all to be minutes behind me. Berserk doesn't have any riders. But with us, I expect it to be an easy fight."

It would be an easier fight if Hiccup was on the ship.

Spitelout still had a deep scowl on his face, but he nodded firmly, turning around to do as she said. Because she had commanded him. As his chieftess.

She looked at Gobber. "I'll be back, soon. I promise."

And with that. she ran off, whistling for Stormfly, the chieftess's cape blowing in the wind behind her and nearly choking her. Still, she ran, with her axe at her back, until she reached her Nadder.

Astrid flew up, her hands clutching the saddle tightly. She gazed around, and her eyes found the child she had spoken to in the Great Hall. His eyes were full of wonder.

She nodded lightly, affirming her promise to Gobber, and with that, she left Berk.


End file.
